10-year-old guitar prodigy from Bloxham gets 5,000,000 hits

A talented young musician from Bloxham became an internet sensation when his tribute to BB King went viral.

Ten-year-old Toby Lee uploaded a solo guitar performance dedicated to his hero last month to Youtube, and the clip has now been viewed over five million times worldwide.

It has even earnt the youngster sponsorship offers and a personal message from Rita King Washington, daughter of his musical hero who died on May 14 aged 89.

Toby, who attends Crackley Hall School in Kenilworth said he performed the instrumental version of King’s ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ as a get-well tribute to his favourite guitarist.

The clip went viral after being shared by musician, Joe Bonamassa and has since been viewed millions of times around the world.

Speaking about his love for music, Toby said: “You can’t keep me away from my guitar. I have a ukulele and a pair of drumsticks in the car so when I’m picked up from school I can start practising. I just love it.”

Toby Lee.

Toby’s love for the instrument was first born when he was given a ukulele by his granny as a toddler.

Music mad Toby played it so much that the strings wore out and he moved up to the electric guitar helped by his father, Terry’s love of Jimi Hendrix and blues maestro Gary Moore.

Toby is no stranger to fame after wowing the nation earlier this year when he appeared on BBC radio to show off his skills.

Toby Lee strummed out a piece by rock band, AC/DC as part of the on the ‘Kids Fanfare’ session on the Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show.

You can’t keep me away from my guitar

Toby Lee

With an audience of over nine million, the Bloxham maestro was described by Evans as “a natural”, pulling in huge online support.

An earlier video of the rock-mad youngster was shared by a Seattle radio station and secured 500,000 views in just 72 hours.

Toby said at the time: “I just love playing. Music is where I want to be to follow in the footsteps of the all-time greats.”